Guest INXS Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Truly sad news. To those interested there is a tribute article on him here Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Chyna dumps Jericho and laughs at him. So Bossman casually runs into her and knocks her ass over. "He wasn't even supposed to be in the RIIIIIIIIIIING." RIP Ray Traylor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redbaron29 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Very surprised to see this first thing in the morning. I was just listening to his old theme song "Hard Time" the other day. Made me wondering what he was up to. Now I read this. So Ray, thank you for everything. God speed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Astro Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Sad, as i was thinking about how the WWE should bring the Bossman back...last night....maybe my wrestling 6th sense was on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrVenkman PhD 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Nice little write up from PWInsider... Former WWF and WCW star "Big Bossman" Ray Traylor passed away suddenly yesterday in his home. According to a report by Georgiann Makropoulis, Traylor's wife found him unconscious and paramedics were unable to revive him. He had not been complaining of feeling ill beyond a bad knee. Traylor is believed to have been 41. A legitimate former prison guard out of Marietta, Georgia, Traylor first broke into the business as Big Bubba Rogers, working some smaller territories including Memphis (where he and Jerry Lawler held the Southern Tag Team titles, but as was par for the course in Memphis, he soon turned on Lawler). He ended up as the penultimate UWF champion, dropping the belt to Steve Williams right before the company was completely absorbed into Jim Crockett Promotions. He is best known during that time period for his role as the bodyguard of Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express, where he also had a series of taped fist matches with Ronnie Garvin. Traylor was signed by the WWF in 1998 where he became the Big Bossman, an evil heel known for brutalizing enhancement talent with a nightstick after handcuffing them to the ropes, managed by Slick. During this time, Bossman had a huge run with Hulk Hogan including a Steel Cage series featuring a superplex off the top of the cage, which was a huge deal for two guys that big during that time period. He also formed a tag team with Akeem as The Twin Towers after his main event singles run was done, defeating The Rockers in Shawn Michaels' Wrestlemania debut at Mania 5. Bossman was turned babyface during an angle where he was hired to retrieve Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Belt from Jake Roberts as it was in Robert's snake bag. After tiring of the browbeating from DiBiase, Bossman put the belt back in the bag and told DiBiase to get it himself. This led to a feud with DiBiase and Bossman dishing out "hard time" to the heels of the company, including a memorable feud with Rick Rude that stemmed from Rude and manager Bobby Heenan making fun of Bossman's mother. Perhaps the most memorable feud featured a storyline where a convict from Bossman's past, Nailz came to WWF for revenge. Bossman left the company in the early 90s, working the independent scene including a revisiting of his feud with Nailz, who was working as "The Convict" for a number of companies. Bossman debuted for WCW in December 1993 as a last minute surprise to face Rick Rude at Starrcade '93 as "The Boss" due to copyright issues with his WWF name. That soon led to a series of gimmicks as he became "The Man," then "The Guardian Angel" (including vignettes filmed with the Angels in New York City) and finally a return to Big Bubba Rogers. He was a member of the New World Order for a brief time as well. Bossman jumped back to WWF in 1998, appearing as a member of Vince McMahon's Corporation in a feud with Steve Austin. He remained with WWF in some capacity until last year when his deal expired. He was extremely well liked by management, especially McMahon himself, to the point that I recall a worker who debuted in 2000 once telling me he had to be careful with Bossman as hurting him was a surefire way to get on McMahon's bad side right out of the gate. During his final WWF run, he racked up several championship reigns, defeating Mick Foley for the first of several Hardcore championships and a WWF Tag Team championship with Ken Shamrock. Bossman had several more feuds during this run including The Big Show (which as irony has it given the Rick Rude feud, was based on Bossman badmouthing Show's father, who "died" during the storyline) and Al Snow, which saw the kidnapping and cooking of Snow's Chihuahua Pepper and one of the all-time greatest "bad" matches, the Kennel from Hell, which is one of Mick Foley's favorites. Traylor underwent knee surgery in the Fall of 2000. He worked briefly was a trainer for Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2002. Earlier this year, Traylor had run Paulding County, Georgia's Commission Chairman but was defeated in a three person race. Traylor had been scheduled to appear alongside the Midnight Express on 10/30 at a big charity event in Waynesboro, Virginia and also this November for Frank Goodman's USA Pro Wrestling in Jamaica, New York. Greg Price had also hoped to include him in some of the upcoming conventions that were scheduled. He had also expected to return to WWE at some point, turning down a shoot interview offer a few months back, saying, "Call me in six months if I'm not back in WWE." On behalf of everyone involved with PWInsider.com, I'd like to express our deepest condolences to the friends, family, and fans of Ray Traylor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
caboose 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 RIP Ray 'Bossman' Traylor. Did anyone ever no-sell the night stick? I didn't think so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deancoles 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Awful news, Bossman was my favourite as a kid.He really made the gimmick work and his matches from 90-94 were really good. He was one of the nicest guys they had and he also did a load of charity work(there was an article on wwe.com) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 42?! What the fuck is going on here?! The guy may not have been the best worker but he was always a class act, eternal props to the Bossman. Fuck, this sucks... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 The guy may not have been the best worker but he was always a class act, eternal props to the Bossman. Fuck, this sucks... My thoughts exactly. Guy always seems to have tried hard to entertain the fans, and that's about all you can ask for. Favourite Bossman feud: Bossman vs. the Heenan Family. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 The guy may not have been the best worker but he was always a class act, eternal props to the Bossman. Fuck, this sucks... My thoughts exactly. Guy always seems to have tried hard to entertain the fans, and that's about all you can ask for. Favourite Bossman feud: Bossman vs. the Heenan Family. Definitely. Also, the amount of charity work this guy did in his time off was insane. A really great guy and was never once rude to a fan from what I've heard. My favorite feud had to have been with Hogan. Back in the day, that stuff was gold for a mark/kid like me. Though, my actual favorite Bossman moment had to be when he returned to WWF as a masked member of the Corporation.. the night he unmasked.. we all knew it was him, but it was just great nonetheless! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ragingfear79 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 RIP Big dude, My jaw dropped when I saw this. He was one of my favorites and he will be missed. Go and give a nightstick shot to good ol St Pete. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spman 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Man, this is just awful. I think now just about the entire WWF Roster from 1988 - 1991 is either dead or crippled. Atleast Bossman is in heaven now with all his friends like Big Shows Dad and Pepper the Dog. RIP Big Man, you were one of the great ones. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JN News 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Oh shit, I can't believe this. He was one of my childhood heros, too. RIP:Bossman "That referee, right there, wasn't even supposed to be in the riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!" We'll miss you Bossman. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SamoaRowe 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 R.I.P. Bossman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Repo Man jr 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 He was my childhood favourite until I got into the more serious wrestlers like HBK and the Mountie. Someone should do the Bossman Slam on Raw next week, that would rock. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Another Bossman moment...does anyone else remember him and Albert tear gassing Big Show or something like that? I vaguely recall that... I remember that. It was on Raw, and Show was being interviewed in a room backstage by Michael Cole; I think Show had just wrestled or something. Anyway, Bossman and Albert are shown sneaking towards the room with a tear gas grenade in hand. They quietly open the door, toss the grenade in, and slam the door shut, and hold it tight so Show and Cole can't get out. Raw went to a break, and when they returned, they showed footage of Show and Cole stumbling out of the room, coughing and spluttering. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 RIP Bossman I pray he died from natural causes. I'm going to be really disappointed if another childhood wrestler died from a drug over dose or from drug abuse over the years. I won't be shocked, though. He was good friends with Curt Hennig and others from that era. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Open the Muggy Gate 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Holy crap! That came out of left field! Wow... I'm stunned.... I don't know what to say. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted September 23, 2004 After reading this I am truly shocked. One of my childhood fav's as well. RIP Bossman....you will be missed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Detox 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 extremely sad news I have always been a fan R.I.P Big Bossman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest M. Harry Smilac Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Someone needs a gif of his little tazmanian devil thing he would do when he got in the ring. http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=30220 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sideburnious 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Wow this completely surprised me. I wonder what was the cause of death Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spman 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 http://www.wwe.com/news/headlines/1277702 WWE.com just put up a nice brief writeup Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anakin Flair 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Damn, this sucks. I keep thinking how fast he moved for such a big man in the '92 Royal Rumble against Flair. RIP Bossman. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gary Floyd 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Woa, this totally sucks. That's all I can say, other than I'm very saddened to here this. My prayers go out to his family. RIP, big guy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest curry_man2002 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 How could any one possibly forget summerslam 1999 when boss man throws an obviously empty dog case and the king on commentary goes did he just throw pepper. CLASSIC!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Wow, it suprised me, but after all the wrestling deaths I've just become numb. Its really a shame, I don't feel anything anymore, like it's not even real. I certainly hope this generation is smarter and learns from the mistakes of the past, because 10 years from now I don't want to be reading the same crap. Anyway, RIP Ray. I always did enjoy him as well, especially as a heel in the late 90s. The Al Snow and Big Show feuds were 2 of the most absurdly funny feuds in wrestling history. The guy was a trooper and worked hard to get over any angle he could, and usually in the most entertaining way possible. Not to mention he was quite the decent wrestler for a man his size. Man, now I am feeling pretty bummed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claydude14 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 RIP Big Boss Man Go give God, Tha Big Boss Slam. Watch out for Big Show's Dad; Since you stole his body; If he knows the Alley-oop, Then you'll be real sorry. Use your night stick on Angels Then feed them some dogs, Win the hardcore title, By pinning Crash with logs. Say hi to Al Wilson. RIP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Stanley 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted September 23, 2004 Bossman is one of those guys who always tried hard and always looked like he was having fun in there. Remember on SD! when he showed up out of NOWHERE to attack Stone Cold? That was awesome Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
